GIRLS HIT THE ICE

WANTED: Girls ages 7 to 19 for ice hockey teams. Must be willing to play a competitive game. No experience necessary. "If you can Rollerblade around your neighborhood, you can learn to play hockey," says Katie Townsend, 17, goalie for the Golden Wolves, an all-girls' ice hockey travel team in Pembroke Pines.

Interest in girls' ice hockey is slowly building in Florida, after getting a big boost from women's hockey in the Olympics. This season will be the second that the Florida Youth Hockey League has all-girls' travel teams.

"Last year there were three all girls' travel teams in the entire state. This year we're hoping for four," says Liz Ridley, state director of girls' hockey and community programs manager for the Florida Panthers.

Tampa-area Oldsmar, the first all girls' team in the state, played the Gold Coast Panthers from Pompano Beach and the Golden Wolves last year. In August, Incredible Ice in Coral Springs and Planet Ice in Palm Beach Gardens will hold final tryouts in hopes of forming teams.

"So many people told us they were interested in girls' hockey that we're trying for a team," says Kim Anderson, vice president of the Iceland Gladerunners Travel Hockey Club at Incredible Ice.

Anderson says you don't have to know how to play hockey because the coaches will teach the skills, but the ability to ice skate or Rollerblade is helpful.

"I used to play soccer and softball, but hockey is faster. I like the speed of the game," says Jessica Frye, 15, a Lake Worth sophomore who played for the Gold Coast Panthers last year.

Before all-girls' teams were formed, girls played on co-ed teams. But boys aren't allowed on girls' teams.

"My girls don't want boys on the team, but they like to play against the boys. Especially when they beat them," says Doug McKague, Gold Coast Panthers coach.

While the rules for boys' and girls' hockey are similar, the biggest difference is that girls' rules do not allow body checking. This no-check rule lets players concentrate on the skills of hockey - skating, passing, stick-handling and shooting. Girls also wear the same basic protective equipment as boys but are encouraged to wear female shoulderchest pads and pelvic protectors.

While some teams have gear that can be borrowed, at least during the tryout phase, hockey equipment isn't cheap. Costs for fitting out a player can run $300 to $900, depending on quality and if the equipment is new or used. (A stick can cost anywhere from $20 to more than $120.)

Travel teams typically play 20 weekend games each season from September through March. Practices are once or twice a week, and most teams have room for additional players.